The present invention relates to a braking system for rail equipment of the type which is supported for rolling movement on the rails of a railway.
Vehicles such as maintenance trucks and construction equipment are known to be adapted for use on a railway by mounting high rail equipment on the vehicle in the form of additional wheels which are arranged to be supported on the rails. When braking however, known vehicles of this type generally rely on their conventional brakes normally used on roadways, which are not always sufficient when the vehicle is supported on the rails.
Other vehicles which are intended for use on railways such as trains have braking systems which are designed to directly engage the rails of the railway. These braking systems however are generally elaborate and complex arrangements which are intended to clamp the rails individually with considerable force. These systems can thus be costly to manufacture as well as costly to maintain for use with high rail equipment.
According to one aspect of the present invention there is provided a braking system for rail equipment which is arranged to be supported on a pair of rails for movement in a longitudinal direction of the rails, the braking system comprising:
a pair of braking components, each having an upper brake block and a side brake block coupled substantially perpendicularly to the upper brake block;
rail equipment mounting means for mounting the pair of braking components laterally spaced apart on the rail equipment for alignment of each said braking component with a respective one of the rails;
braking component mounting means supporting the braking components on the rail equipment mounting means for movement relative to the rail equipment mounting means downward and laterally outward from the rail equipment mounting means between an engaged position in which each side brake block faces laterally outward so as to be arranged to engage an inner side of the respective one of said rails and each upper brake block faces downward so as to be arranged to engage a top side of the respective one of said rails and a disengaged position in which the braking components are arranged to be disengaged from the respective rails; and
actuating means for selectively urging both the upper and side brake blocks of each said braking component relative to the braking component mounting means downward and laterally outward towards the engaged position.
The braking system of the present invention provides a simple structure which can be easily adapted to various vehicles. The mounting of the braking elements for movement downward and laterally outward from the frame in addition to the use of actuating means acting thereon provides braking force to the rail equipment by frictionally engaging the top side of the rails in addition to providing a wedging action between respective inner sides of the pair of rails. This wedging action provides considerable braking force to the rail equipment mounting the braking system thereon using a braking system of relatively simple construction. The braking system is particularly suited for vehicles supported on high rail equipment.
The braking component mounting means may comprise a pair of housings supported on the rail equipment by the rail equipment mounting means, each housing mounting a respective one of the braking components thereon for sliding movement of both the upper and side brake blocks together relative to the housing along a respective axis extending laterally outward at a downward incline from the rail equipment from the disengaged position to the engaged position.
The actuating means preferably comprise at least one hydraulic piston cylinder associated with each said braking component. The hydraulic piston cylinder is preferably mounted between each housing and the respective braking component.
There may be provided a biasing member coupled between each housing and the respective braking component, the biasing member being arranged to urge the braking component towards the respective housing.
Preferably there is provided a stop mounted on each housing for engaging the respective braking component supported thereon for limiting the displacement of the braking component relative to the respective housing. The stops may be adjustably mounted on the respective housings for adjusting an amount of allowable displacement of each braking component in relation to the respective housing.
The side brake block and the respective upper brake block of each said braking component may be coupled together for simultaneous movement between the engaged and disengaged positions.
The upper and side brake blocks may be secured to the braking component mounting means with fasteners such that the brake blocks are selectively separable from the braking component mounting means for replacement.
When each said braking component extends between respective ends in the longitudinal direction of the rails, there may be provided a rail sweep mounted on each end of each braking component. Each rail sweep is preferably arranged to engage the top side of the respective rail in the engaged position for scraping debris from the rails.
Each of the upper and side brake blocks may comprise a plurality of brake pads spaced apart in the longitudinal direction of the rails.
The rail equipment mounting means may comprise a mounting frame arranged to be supported on the rail equipment and supporting the braking component mounting means on the mounting frame. The mounting frame can be adapted to mount onto various types of vehicles for providing a fixed support in which the braking elements can be mounted for movement in relation thereto.
The upper and side brake blocks of each said braking component are arranged preferably arranged to engage a respective top side and a respective inner side of a head of a respective one of said rails.
The mounting frame may be arranged to be supported on rail equipment which comprises a roadway vehicle having high rail equipment mounted thereon. Alternatively, the braking system may be adapted for use on rail equipment including trains and the like.
The mounting frame is preferably movable between a railway position in which the braking components are arranged to be supported adjacent the respective rails and a roadway position in which the braking components are spaced upwardly in relation to the railway position. This is particularly useful when used on a roadway vehicle for supporting the braking components in the roadway position when the vehicle is travelling on a roadway and not on rails.